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Monday, February 11, 2013

Neela Vermeire Creations Discovery Set Giveaway

We're having a wonderful giveaway this week: one Neela Vermeire Creations Discovery Set that includes all three Neela Vermeire Creations perfumes (Mohur, Trayee, and Bombay Bling) in 10ml bottles of each, and two Try your India (3x2ml) sample sets. Since the winners will be announced on Thursday night it's kind of a Valentine's Day gift for three lucky readers.

If you're not familiar with Neela Vermeire and her fragrances (and definitely if you are!) I highly recommend following her on Twitter and through her Facebook page, as you'll get access to news and special sales.

Neela Vermeire's perfumes (composed by Bertrand Duchaufour) were inspired by Neela's memories of her childhood in India and her visits there in later years. The fragrances are evocative and transporting, even for those of us who have yet to travel there. This is why our theme for this giveaway is travel- real and imaginary. In order to participate, please leave ONE comment answering either one of these questions :

1) If you've been to India, what are your scent memories from this country?OR:2) Has a perfume ever transported you to a different location?OR:3) Do you have a scent memory from past travel?

Now the not so small print: Because of certain postal shenanigans and regulations, the giveaway is open to residents of North America and Europe EXCLUDING the UK.

The even smaller print:◆No purchase necessary. Ever. Because I don't sell anything◆participants must be 18 or older◆void where prohibited by law◆regulated by the State of NJ◆

The only scent memory i have is my trip to the Biloxli Islands of Mississippi. The smell of the salty ocean combined with the dry, arid, spicy aroama of the sun drenched sand is most memorable. The only scent that comes comes to replicating it is Yankee Candle called Sun & Sand. If there were a eau de parfum that smelled like it, I would buy it without hesitation.

One of my strongest scent memories was with Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir. Upon first spray, I got a huge cloud of pomegranate. Seconds later, though, it transformed. I was instantly transported to the sweet little mom-and-pop potpourri shop Heart's Ease, nestled between a small restaurant and a glass art boutique in the tiny, quiet town of Cambria on the California coast. My family would take yearly trips there when I was a child, and Heart's Ease was my favorite place in the town - you could run around with little fabric bags, ribbon ties and metal scoops, pouring through buckets of dried flowers, fruits, and spices to make your very own fragrant concoction. I would always take them home and stash them in my dresser drawers for years following. I haven't been back to Cambria in a decade, but I might still have a sachet or two lining a drawer...

Wow, what a giveaway! Fragrance has always transported me, I guess that's why I love it so. CSP to the islands, Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum to the middle east, Guerlains Moscou to Russia. Fragrance is a magical thing!

2) Perfume is a great way to travel vessel! Jasmine-centered perfumes (like a la nuit), bring me back to a small town in Umbria, famous for its chocolate and beauty, where I spent few days of my honeymoon. The patio of our room was literally submerged by Jasmine bushes, and the sweet (and sometimes overpowering) scent of these little white flowers greeted us every evening, as a priceless gift, and still lingers in my memory...

Yes, this is a wonderful giveaway. Perfumes can transport us to different locations, even to different time.At first,you have to find the right one(s).If you love it,understand its background and allow it to have an effect on your life and emotions, experience can be amazing. Neela's perfumes are great for this. This is not an assumption, but what I feel about her perfumes.I love them, I travel with them. They've caused a wonderful state of my mind.

Fragrance has always transported me to different times/places in my life. The smell of frankincense reminds me of the old church we got married in. Molinard Une Histoire de Chypre can take me right back to hugging my grandmother-she died in 1986, but it smells like her perfume and face powder to me. What a fabulous draw and good luck everyone!

What a wonderful draw!!! Thank you, Gaia and Neela! When I first went to Paris in the early 90's, I brought a sample spray vial of Angel with me, and wore it there. Angel became one of my favorite fragrances, and from then on, reminded me of Paris...

Perfumes are great souvenirs for me, as I usually sample new scents or buy bottles when I'm on holiday. My best example is Serge Lutens Fleurs d'Oranger. I started testing this perfume while on holiday in Geneva, and wherever I wear this scent now I'm taken back to dark hotel corridors and bright green alpine hills.

Everytime I went to India I always loved walking in the gardens and breathing in the scents of Jasmine and Tuberose. Even now, whenever I smell those scents, I am reminded of my family trips to India and wish for those days.[email protected]

Hi. This is Suzy Q.Answer to #3: I love the smell of cold coffee in my car. It represents road trips. I often nurse a cup of coffee for many miles and leave the cup in my car. Later, when I get in the car the first thing I smell is that old coffee scent. It's come to mean being on the road, which is something I love.

Growing up on a small remote island I was blessed to be exposed to raw nature and the beauty it offers . My Grandmother had a deep connection with the smells of the island and always passed her knowledge on to me. I remember her picking up a ball of some mysterious substance bobbing along on an aqua wave and after smelling it she said this is ambergris . I can remember deeply inhaling the scent of this mysterious substance and instantly smelling the briny sea foam, the shimmering sun, and the sweetness of the breeze all together in this one odd looking rock. Thank you for including me in the drawing.

I have scent memories of central Mexico, specifically, the markets: fruits such as sweet pineapples, small green limes and papayas; herbs both fresh and dried; the way that woolen goods smelled because they retained the natural lanolin. This is a wonderful giveaway--thanks for the chance!

Love the Scents of India, especially the flower spice combo, it is always something I am looking for in perfume, so rarely accomplished beautifully...........very curious about Neela's perfume as I once had a great perfume shopping day with her in Paris! If you are reading this, congratulations Neela! Happy VDay to all!

3) I once traveled to Florida when the orange blossoms were in full bloom. I'll never forget the way it smelled. No matter where you went, indoors/outdoors, the smell of orange blossoms always followed you. It was magical, and I've yet to find a perfume that smells the same way.Thanks for the give away!

Hemmed and hawed over posting a comment as I am a confirmed lurker. But it is your doing, Gaia, that I am hooked on Bombay Bling (alas, only can afford samples from luckyscent). I read your review of the perfume and when I sniffed it I was hooked, and have ordered samples twice now of all three. As far as scent memories, I grew up in the midwest and for several years our family lived in a farmhouse in the country (we didn't farm, just rented the house). There were many lilac bushes around, and to this day, when I smell lilac, I remember those days.

I have a scent memory from visiting Hong Kong when I was four. I remember being bowled over by the stench of the market street, made worse by the oppressive humidity. Its not a very pleasant scent memory but a vivid one! Thank you for the exciting draw.

Every time I sniff or use one of incenses from Comme des Garcons Series Incense I travel to places which are interpreted in those compositions. They are so real, so true, they are like a perfect olfactory pictures.

I haven't been to India but I would love to go - scent-wise it must be heaven! I have a very strong scent memory from travelling to the South of France as a child. The smell of an antiques store - wood, dust and molecules from many centuries combined! Interestingly I later re-discovered that smell in a perfume bottle from my father which had turned.

I have a scent memory of Malaga. I visited during the easter processions so the whole city smelled like the orange blossoms on the trees mixing with the incense from the floats. It was rich and heady and warm. Absolutely beautiful. Seville a L'aube covers a similar theme, but Malaga smells richer and darker and less sparkling in my memory.

What a fabulous, generous draw; thanks Neela and Gaia! My current favorite transport is Amouage Interlude Woman which takes me to high tea at The Connaught in London, which I will surely never experience. Also Monyette Paris for a tropical beach vacation in the dead of winter, and don't we need that about now. Thank goodness for virtual travel through perfume!

My best scent-memory is of the sweet olive (osmanthus) that perfumed New Orleans every February. It was the first floral scent of the year, and I wish I could find an osmanthus perfume that smelled exactly like that. Scent is my transporter to places I've been, and places I haven't been. Thanks for the giveaway, and I hope to be wafted to India!

Not able to enter officially as I'm from the UK :-(But my 2 scents on this:1) When I first went to India I was struck by how everything out in the open smelled of both sweet roses and shit (on a balmy Delhi night) Visiting India actually sparked my interest in perfume as scent was something I was constantly and acutely aware of all the time. My mum's ancestrial home smelled like sandalwood and old books, my father's which was in a small village smelled of spices, herbs and mogra (similar to Jasmine)which had overgrown everything. Visiting my uncle at the foothills of the Himalayas I got to experience the most wonderful scent of all - damp earth - recently rained on parched earth - they even try to mimic that aromatic scent in something called mitti attar. The final memory of India is the incense layered over years and years at a retreat in Gujarat that my mum insisted on visiting. It was in the wilderness, surrounded by forest and had an underground meditation room in which the walls themselves carried the scent of layers of herbal incense - very peaceful.An W.

Thanks for the drawing, would love to try these! My scent memories from a recent trip to Greece: The sharp, green smell of unripe olives off the tree; the scent of an evergreen common in Greece and Turkey (forget the name, but I think it's a type of fir); and the powdery, almond/vanilla scent of oleander flowers.

Well, I have two big scent memories: I traveled to Stockholm three years ago and everything in that city is full of cinnamon, the awesome kanelbullar are just one example (and I ate like 5 tons!), and the second was created just a few days ago: I was wearing Tauer's Carillon pour un Ange at the Yndi Halda gig here in Barcelona, this plus the smell of the smoke that tipically fills the room in a concert will stay in my head forever.

More than ten years ago, I was lucky enough to live in Santa Barbara where my apartment was close to the bluffs just outside the university. The smell on the air was always redolent of eucalyptus and... skunk. It's not as unpleasant as it sounds. Mixed with the Pacific salt air, it was really quite beautiful. To this day, any time I smell skunk, I am transported back there.

My sister gifted me, long, long ago, a deity carved in sandalwood. The smell of this massive, gorgeous figure transports me every time to India, where I have never been. Since then, my love for all things woody emerged. I traveled through China wearing Feminite du bois so this perfume (the old and the new) takes me immediately back to a small market in Shanghai where my husband and I bought everything from tea to notebooks to rose petals confiture. Strangely, I bought Indochine recently and mixed it with Tonkamande which somehow makes me feel I am in a Chinese bakery buying moon cakes. I live close to Chinatown and I do not get that smell here tho. These are just subterfuges of my imagination.

Thanks so much for this giveaway, I'd wanted to try these perfumes for so long! I've been to India many times, and my scent memories are very mixed - yes, there are the nice smells like jasmine flowers, incense, and spices, but the smells of trash heaps, sewage, and diesel exhaust are just as well-placed in my memory. That said, most of my memories are from Kolkata/Calcutta, and when I went out to the rural villages the scents were very different- rain on fresh dirt, grass, cow manure, fresh air..

Dior's Dune will always be my first memory of London. When I transferred to Scotland in 1992, I had a 3-day meeting in London first. Dune wasn't yet available in the US when I left, but the advertisements were in all the magazines. I was fortunate to be staying near Selfridges, and my first purchase was a bottle of Dune EDP. It's one of the few scents I will always have on hand, and it reminds me of the excitement of those days.

Hi Gaia, I'm from Italy, but my most astonishing scent memory from past travels is linked to a (beloved) land in the far north, that is Newfoundland & Labrador!A phantom tormented me and my girlfriend during the many days spent wandering through the beautiful and remote forests of the island: an incredibly sweet, floral-like smell. Discarding the first hypotesis (always trailing an American group of trekkers covered with some unknown celebu-scent :-D ), and having smelled in vain dozens of small flowers around the tracks, we ended up asking the locals. "Sweetgrass" was the answer, and...the name says it all. An unpretentious herb, that easily goes unobserved, but...a smell forever remembered, like a dream in that severe nordic landscape. A holy plant for the natives, really not difficult to understand why.

my honey will be out of town on Thursday, but we'll combine a Valentine's day card exchange with my birthday dinner. It all rolls into one. I'm good with a card -- don't need flowers or chocolate. Perfume would be wonderful, but only a girlfriend would think of that! Thanks for the draw, I'd love to sample these.

I have never been to India,but my daughter married a man from India. He has introduced me to Indian food and the beauty of that amazing country with all the colors and diversity and music. I would love to try these scents! Thank you for the draw.

I was so excited for my trip to Costa Rica, but I couldn't find a bug spray that I could tolerate the smell of. I came across an article citing grapefruit oil as a good repellent, so I picked up a bottle of Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune at the airport. I loved the fragrance, the mosquitoes left me alone, and each time I spray it, it brings me back the rainforest.

Sadly I've never really traveled anywhere. I would love to go to India, though. I wish I could say a perfume transported somewhere, but I only have my imagination in my mind to go on. I do love that scents can do that for you.

Being transported somewhere else is one of the aspects of perfume wearing that I love best! It's not always a real place for me, though. For example, Bois de Paradis takes me to an imaginary, "Secret Garden" scene.

1) If you've been to India, what are your scent memories from this country? hhmm, the scent of fresh jasmin blossoms, most women wear them in their hair, threaded on a little string and then attached to the back of their hairdo. Lots and lots of sandalwood incense, and an occasional waft of rotting meat...the aroma of spiced tea, chai. In fact, I should go and see how much are tickets to Mumbay at the moment.

I only really started getting interested in perfume after 1. finding this blog and 2. visiting Paris a few years ago. I purchased a bottle of No. 5 at the rue Cambon boutique, and I was off to the races. Whenever I wear No. 5 I remember not only my trip to Paris, but playing dress up in the closets of various neighborhood grandmothers (including my own)--fancy hats with veils, gold-cased cosmetics, clip-on earrings. What fun!

I've never been to India, but one scent always come to mind when I think of India - sandalwood. As far as fragrances that transport, the strongest one I have is PdN's Odalisque, which always brings me back to my childhood, wandering around my uncle's multi-leveled townhouse. He lived near a busy shipping port in one of the islands in Southeast Asia, and from the master bedroom you can see the tops of ships and smell the salty air. I don't know why this particular scent should bring about this memory, but I treasure it.

I've never been to India, and honestly don't feel much of a desire to go. It's just too far away. There are certainly scent memories, both bad and good. The smell of dendê oil in the streets of Salvador in Brazil wasn't too enticing. My wife has terrible scent memories of New Orleans, for some reason. I don't. Every time she sees a film of the city, they come back to her.

What a wonderful giveaway - I haven't tried any of these, but am dying to! My scented travel memory involves Hawaii. My dad is from there and we used to go more often when we were young. The dry areas around the beaches had such a distinctive dry, sweet smell, which reminds me of syrup, I assume from the brush in the area. Then when I moved to San Diego, I've found the same dry, sweet smell here in the canyons - brings me right back!

Great giveaway, Thank you! All of my perfumes transport me in a way or other, to other places, times,states of mind, different emotions. My most recent one , for example, Noix de Tubereuse by Miller Harris, I've instantly imagined myself wearing it on a beautiful spring day in Paris.It's pink and soft, and carefree and smiling and cuddly, with a gentle joie de vivre about it. Lovely!

My grandparents were from the island of Corfu(Greece) and I have spent there many Summers. In their village you could find a plant like jasmine wich locals call "the flower which blooms at night= Nyxtolouloudo in greek). The scientific name of this flower is Cestrum nocturnum( actually, native to India!) and every time I smell it I go to that place again. My grandamather and I strolling around at night and I can almost hear her beautiful voice...I wish I could find a perfume smelling like that flower...

the last time I went to India (over 12 years ago), I can still remember the sandalwood incense in all of the temples we visited. It was a great experience after climbing the many steps of Palitana to visit the first temple and subsequent temples in the area.

When I was backpacking across Europe when I was 23, the bottle of Acqua di Gio got broken when a porter jammed my huge backpack under my bunk. So for pretty much two months I was carrying around a giant back with me that reeked of Acqua di Gio. So I always think of the ferry from Cherbourg to Ireland, or, for some reason, reading on a train en route to Salzburg.

I bought a bottle of Chanel Allure pour Homme in the duty free shop on the ferry and my roommate back in Germany, where I was studying, used up almost the whole bottle because she liked using it as a room spray or linen spritz. It drove me crazy and she always denied doing so, but it was plain that she did, and friends even said they saw her spraying it all over her bed. Oh well, whenever I happen to smell that I think of my amazing apartment in Germany.

All my perfumes create a certain mood, and transport me to different dimensions and atmospheres. But it is Traversee du Bosphore that puts me on its magical carpet and together we plunge into the richness and wisdom of Constantinople!Thanks so much for the draw!

Parfum de Merveilles is my go-to when I need to think of the seaside in Croatia in the middle of summer, early afternoon. It's beautifully warm and salty, it's almost tactile. It's only made better when I dab it on, as I get to have a private moment that lasts an entire day.

Tocca Florence transports me to Virginia in February. Somewhat mundane, but the scent reminds me of the cold snow that fell when I visited there mixed with the scent of my brother's car that I was driving.

My strongest scent memory is from childhood: early morning in the Adirondacks where the air smells of balsam, wood smoke,and somehow, lake water - clean and invigorating and smoky all at the same time. I've never found a perfume that captures that smell. Thanks so much for the draw! I've yet to smell ANY of Neela Vermeire's creations.

I think mine will be the most boring post in this thread-i have never had the opportunity to travel. I have always worked, and worked a lot. I did go on a sailing ship, once-about ten days. We went to St Pierre, which is a french island off the coast of newfounland. Surprisingly all their fumes were from france: Arpege and Je Reviens were easily available there.

When I was a little girl visiting my grandma, there was a flowering weed that grew in the alley beside her house. The pale blue blossoms smelled absolutely lovely. The closest thing I've found is Serge Lutens Sarrasins. Thanks for the draw.

Everywhere I travel I use a different perfume to always remember my trip. My most recent trip was to Carmel, CA and I found a beautiful Neroli oil from India. I wore it the whole time and whenever I smell it now i'm transported back to Carmel!

I lived in Asia for a year and in Mumbai for 4 of those months. I also have smelled Bombay Bling. It IS the city.The city wakes up loud with horns sounding as does the perfume.The middle is like lunch. Your nose asks "Has someone in here eaten curry?" Then you remember you are in India, and most likely everyone has eaten curry.The warm evening and dry down notes are like the air whispering in your window, soft white flowers pass over your face and you are in a serene place of dreams.

I have a tuberose enfleurage cream from (most appropriately) Enfleurage in NYC that takes me immediately to Hawaii. It is the real deal and instantly relaxes me. It is like wearing a tuberose lei around your neck!

Thanks for such a terrific draw, this a new line for me so I have my fingers crossed!

I used to live in Hawaii and the scent of plumeria in perfume or monoi oil takes me back to Oahu. The air is so luxuriously scented with flowers - you can smell it right when you get off the plane in the open-air airport on Oahu. Also, I was lucky enough to have two gardenia bushes in my garden. I would pluck one blossom, float it in water, and it would perfume the house. Would love to win the NVC set!

Hi Dear.1 - No, never traveled to India, but I love Femininde by Sahlini.2 - Yes, Mystere by Rochas is a journey for me.3 - Yes, I dreamed! Twice.I live in Brazil, but I have a niece studying in Toulouse.She gets the prize if I win :)Best wish. Elisabeth

Got transported once.. was walking down the street in Reading , UK and passed a woman dressed as if she were from India.. I'm sure she was. Her perfume brought me somewhere else. Not sure where. India I guess. I am not very savvy when it comes to perfume , this had to be the most pleasant perfume experience I have ever had. I actually stopped walking for a second. Made me start thinking about transporting myself to more high end perfumes!

I used to live in Williamsburg, there in NYC, in the early 80's and there were spice --warehouses I guess they were, not sure actually, --there, down near the water, north of the bridge. With some regularity I guess they got a shipment and the whole neighborhood would smell of whatever they got, but, the one that really seemed to travel and linger was cinnamon, so, whenever I smell cinnamon I think of grungy Williamsburg and the pink neon Domino sugar sign along the East River so quiet. Thanks for the draw. Rachel h.

I'll answer number three with a definite yes. Some of the most random things will remind me of being somewhere else. My aunt recently gave me a packet of tea biscuits and I'm positive that they smell just like a bakery in Mont Saint-Michel.

I love most orange blossom scents, but to me Czech and Speake Neroli is the purest expression of driving through the citrus groves around Orlando on a warm night. The first night I ever had that experience I thought I was in heaven. I am dying to try any of Neela's fragrances! Thanks for the draw!

Growing up in India I have a lot of scent memories. The smell of fresh jasmine sambac strands, fresh ripe mangoes, cardamom, ginger, curry leaves, rose/jasmine/sandalwood incense from the nearby temples I can go on on and on. I have sampled Bombay bling and Mohur and like both of them very much. Bombay bling smells like Mumbai! I can feel the glitz and glamour of Bollywood! Mohur on the other hand smells nostalgic. I think the 1920-1940s India must have smelled like this! For this reason alone I like mohur better. Thanks for this wonderful draw Gaia!

Neroli transports me back to my childhood christmas holidays in Spain where I played near bitter orange tree. Nowadays I like everything about those trees, blossom, twigs, wood. Penhaligon's Castille and Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree really transport me back to the past !

My love of perfume and travel began at the same time, when I first smelled Poeme on my parent's family friend during a trip to Paris when I was young. My tastes have evolve since ten, but Poeme was the first perfume I ever purchased as a teenager, because it captured the beauty and sense of adventure I found on that first trip to Europe.

My first memory from India is of course jasmine - the flowers are sold in the markets and also are part of wedding decorations. If you're an Indian bride and want to wear a separate scent, make sure if layers well with jasmine, based on what I've seen :)

One of my dearest scent memories from travels is from the island of Capri. There were some amazing big pine trees and I will never forget the scent that they produced the hot and dry summer sun. Incredibly strong, yet fresh and beautiful.

One of he oddest places I ever visited was St Pierre, off the coast of Newfoundland. It's a tiny peice of france in the Atlantic ocean. It was here my mom bought Je Reviens perfume, and Arpege for me:0

I haven't ever been to India -but I'd like to -at least by scent! I find that Plumeria and Tuberose and other tropical florals will send me back in time to when I went to live in Hawai'i for about 3 years when Dad was stationed there. As soon as you get off the plane you can smell the floral rich breezes from the lei stands just outside the open air airport.Thankfully with fragrant adventures there's no jetlag !Thanks for holding this drawing. Jennifer Smith/ Bookwyrmsmith atlive dotcom

I have never been to India, but had a really bizarre sense memory feeling when I smelled a Calendula and Honey hand cream made by Kiss My Face. It really made me feel like I went to India for a minute. Quite often a scent will transport me - it's one of the things I really love.

Andy Tauer's Incense Rosé transports me to a world full or both Gothic and Baroque architecture and music. Sometime in the mysterious past but at the same time with an assertivness and self expression that could only belong to today! It transports me to a time and place that isn't real, not past, nor future. Wonderful perfume!

I was fortunate to travel to Ireland in the summer of 2012 with my boyfriend and his father to visit some of their extended family there. I brought a small bottle of Arcana's Molly Malone perfume oil with me, knowing that a) it was simple and pretty enough that I wouldn't get tired of wearing it over the course of several days and b) the fragrance would then be forever associated with that trip whenever I smelled it in the future. Mission accomplished!

Am I late? I cannot be late! Please, et me not be late... I have been to India once - to Hyderabad for work, so not too many scent memories from that trip. But I love Neela's fragrances and if India smells even remotely like her creations, I definitely need to go back. Have drained my samples by now and was considering a bank robbery to afford the discovery set. Hopefully this can now be avoided...

When I went to China I brought along Prada Infusion d'Iris, but the high heat made it spoil. My sunscreen, however, filled my memories full of coconuts. Coconuts, such a strange thing to remember of China.